Many of these inducted films have high Tomatometer scores and are Certified Fresh, but the Tomatometer was not our only guide. There’s no minimum review count for this list. We opened it up to movies of yesteryear, which typically don’t get as many reviews as their modern comedy rivals. These 150 movies will take you to college ( Animal House), past some fan favorites ( Step Brothers, Super Troopers ), and all around the globe ( Kung Fu Hustle, Amelie).
Parody ( Airplane!, Scary Movie) to postmodern ( Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Galaxy Quest). Rom-coms ( Moonstruck, Annie Hall) to screwball ( It Happened One Night, Bringing Up Baby). From slapstick ( Dumb & Dumber, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World) to silent ( The General, Modern Times). To that end, we’ve included all forms of the comedy movie. We’re melting minds, splitting sides, and slapping knees here. (Though we’re not not saying those can sometimes be the pinnacle of professional-grade jokes.) We don’t have the answer, but with our Essential list assembling 150 of the best comedies ever made, we’re getting closer to laugh-out-loud enlightenment than humanly thought possible. What makes a comedy a classic? Something that floats on the changing tides of time and taste, remaining relevant – and hilarious? It probably takes more than a football to the groin or a juiced-up fart on the audio track.